竞赛片：《狄仁杰之通天帝国》

华语片《狄仁杰》还未亮相就引起关注，不仅因为是作为唯一一部入围第67届威尼斯电影节竞赛单元的影片，导演徐克、主演刘德华、刘嘉玲、李冰冰和邓超的宣传阵容也让媒体蠢蠢欲动。李冰冰这次带了“百福图”、“红牡丹”、“青花瓷”为主题的三套礼服赶赴水城，珠宝首饰更保险了上千万元。最终李冰冰选择具有中国风韵的“百福裙”亮相红毯，这条裙子由中国设计师郭培设计，上面绣有王羲之、颜真卿、黄庭坚等古代著名书法家所写的“福”，由二十多位师傅纯手工打造别；珠宝方面选择了与裙子十分相配的中国设计师万宝宝作品，一对宝瓶状的耳环也是十足的“中国风”。在电影中雍容华贵的“武则天”刘嘉玲则以素雅的Versace礼服现身，高贵大方。

除了在红毯上延续电影中“大唐盛世”的复古路线，《狄仁杰之通天帝国》制片方华谊兄弟在丽都岛豪华昂贵的Hotel Exelsior举办了“梦回唐朝”的主题盛宴。不仅展示了五款人物剪影海报，电影中包括武则天所穿龙袍在内的各种经典道具都在现场展示。舞台则以盛唐标志龙凤为主题背景，还以LED巨屏不停播放《狄仁杰》的视频片段，制片人王中磊与导演徐克，主演刘德华、李冰冰、刘嘉玲都亮相卖力为电影宣传。

媒体评价：徐克回归武侠片 想象继续天马行空

徐克此前拍摄的《女人不坏》等电影尽管与以往的武侠风格截然不同，但并未获得影迷认可，此次徐克重新拍回自己熟悉的武侠片，《狄仁杰》在威尼斯放映时上座率超过9成且没有人中途退场，结束后中外媒体普遍表示徐克回归无疑是明智且成功的，富有质感的画面、瑰丽的人物造型都回到了经典“徐克风格”，尤其是天马行空的想象力，最令人过瘾。而令国外媒体称道的也正是其充满东方美学的画面和打斗场面，一家法国媒体如此描述狄仁杰：“电影画面优美，节奏明快，动作设计创新精彩，却充满浪漫的美丽诗意，是徐克近年最佳作品之一！”

大多观众对于饰演狄仁杰的刘德华的完美侦探印象深刻；李冰冰的上官静儿在片中受命于武则天，却在一连串事件中重新认识狄仁杰转折很大；刘嘉玲的武则天喜怒无常，气势十足的演出也让国际媒体印象深刻。但也有人表示某些剧情没有完全看懂，甚至有媒体记者反映，该片徒有华丽动作场面，但是“故事不是看点”。

谈威尼斯电影节：给我的感觉很像唐朝这次是徐克第三次带着作品来到水城，作为威尼斯电影节的常客，他表示这次是参赛特别不同“我们觉得参赛都是一些比较特殊的电影，我们拍《狄仁杰》就纯是从商业的角度去做。这次来参赛我觉得很意外，而且也很好奇，到底评审对这个戏的评论是怎么样的，所以我一直还是等待他们给我们的看法是怎么样的”。

与其他电影节相比，徐克忽然发现《狄仁杰之通天帝国》在某方面跟威尼斯有关系，“某天我在酒店吃早餐，突然望出去，那个水，我觉得就是《狄仁杰》里面武则天望出王宫里面外面的运河的感觉，那个刹那就觉得为什么有这个印象？是不是威尼斯给我的一个启发，还是中国唐朝就应该跟威尼斯很相近的地方？这个很有趣，我还是要找出这个可能性，就是到底是威尼斯影响我，还是唐朝本来的面目就跟威尼斯很相近。”

Venice: Tsui revives Chinese hero Detective Dee

VENICE, Italy – Hong Kong's action film master Tsui Hark returns to the big screen with "Detective Dee and the Mystery of Phantom Flame", a new cloak-and-dagger martial arts blockbuster set in the Tang dynasty.

Tsui blends fantasy with martial arts and special effects in a drama infused with love and intrigue that aims to create a complex but entertaining story around the historical character Detective Dee, known as Judge Dee to Western audiences.

The fact that Dee is a household name to Chinese audiences created a lot of responsibility, the director said.

"We tried to create the most fascinating Detective Dee so that we could satisfy the high expectations of the public," Tsui said Sunday, before the film's premiere at the Venice Film Festival in competition for the Golden Lion.

Tsui's film opens in 690 A.D. Shot in China, it stars Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau as Detective Dee, who in this story is an exiled detective recruited to solve a series of mysterious deaths that are threatening the rise to power of China's first female empress, Wu Zetian (Carina Lau).

Andy Lau says he stepped up to the challenge of reinventing the Dee character.

"After speaking with the director and screen writers, I understood how Dee was depicted in some films from Mainland China. And they said they wanted a different character," the actor said.

Lau said the director gave him the homework of figuring out what type of animal Detective Dee could be, saying they would develop the character from there. The conclusion was, "He is a monkey. Swift and intelligent."

Dee is called on to defend himself in many a spectacular fight scene as he cracks the mystery of seemingly spontaneous combustion that takes out some key palace officials. The flame's origin is explained away by everything from magic to treason to science.

"We tried to create a complex, woven plot to draw the audience in, and, you don't know who the murderer is until the very end, unlike other films in the genre," Tsui said.